In his run up to the 2016 GOP presidential primary, Jebbie Bush is plainly re-establishing himself with the Republican base: "Distancing himself from his former-president brother and Sen. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush appeared to reverse course Monday when he said undocumented immigrants should not be given a pathway to citizenship."

At different times during the presidential campaign, Bush made veiled critical references about Romney. Now, Romney backers say, Bush sounds as if he's adopting the same positions as Romney.

"From before-noon coffees to evening soirees, lawmakers and lobbyists marked the eve of the 60-day session of the Florida Legislature Monday in private clubs and lobbying offices with a traditional social ritual: handing out millions of dollars in checks." "Will lawmakers pass campaign reform or just do a face lift?".

State of the state

"Scott sounds re-election themes as 2013 session opens". The Tampa Bay Times editors: "Rick Scott delivered his most upbeat State of the State speech yet Tuesday, reflecting Florida's economic rebound from the worst of the Great Recession. He praised everyone from teachers to university presidents to business leaders, avoiding confrontation and appealing to mainstream voters he will need to win re-election next year. But the governor was noticeably silent on most big issues and stuck to narrow budget priorities, passing up an opportunity to cast a broader vision for Florida's future." "Editorial: Scott plays nice and safe".

"The state of the 2014 Florida governor's race is boiling down to this: What will Charlie do?"

With the election still 20 months away, politicos took notice last week as Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam signaled he might be available to challenge fellow Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer declared he would not run.

But most potential challengers remain on hold, waiting to see what former Gov. Charlie Crist will decide. The Republican-turned-independent-turned Democrat is the presumed front runner among Democrats who are itching to take on Scott -- but not so eager to take on Crist. . . .

A recent survey by Washington-based Hamilton Campaigns showed Scott tied with Crist in a hypothetical matchup – and with a favorability rating of 44 percent, the highest since he took office in 2011.

With former Florida chief financial officer Alex Sink, whose husband died earlier this year, sounding very reluctant to seek a rematch of her close 2010 loss to Scott, the Democratic field beyond Crist are all virtual unknowns outside of their hometowns.

"Anybody else [besides Crist] requires an introduction," said Hamilton Campaigns president David Beattie.

And even among Democrats, Crist may have to overcome the image that Republicans have pushed since the moment he quit the GOP in the spring of 2010: that he's an opportunistic flip-flopper interested primarily in his own political future.

"What I'm hearing from the Panhandle down to South Florida is that people want a true Democrat." Rich said, "My record is an open book. I'm not going to be changing those positions."

There also is emerging regional tension between Democrats in South and Central Florida. The last three Democrats to run for governor all came from Tampa Bay, and all lost. Crist lives in St. Petersburg.

Some South Florida leaders privately say that their region's huge number of Democrats – and its rich base of campaign contributors -- might get far more excited by a local candidate. Besides Rich and Diaz, former state Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler are among the possibilities mentioned.

The Tampa Bay Times editorial board: "[A]lready House Republicans have drawn a partisan line against expanding Medicaid. A select committee voted along party lines Monday to not even bother writing legislation that would enable the expansion."

This was an arrogant power play by two Pasco County legislators, House Speaker Will Weatherford and committee chairman Richard Corcoran, who are not representing the best interests of their districts or their state on health care reform.

Lloyd Brown: "The impact on Florida was described to Scott in a letter from, I think, the third assistant secretary to the undersecretary to the oversecretary of the deputy assistant to the secretary of defense. (You know how the manpower shortage is in D.C.)" "Florida in Grave Peril, State Leaders are Advised".

Charter madness

"It was clear to teachers at the Einstein Montessori School in Orlando that something was very wrong when school opened for business last fall."

There were no computers for student use. And although the school focused on students with dyslexia, there were no reading texts.

Teachers said there was no set curriculum and no library.

"It was a disaster," said Brittany Clifton, a first-year math teacher who took on additional duties as principal for several months. She said students weren't getting what they needed. "It should have been shut down before the end of the semester."

The charter school closed in February, two months after Orange County Public Schools warned the privately run public school that it was violating state law and its own contract with the district.

"Two years ago, Imani Elementary Charter Academy was shut down by the district School Board after the school misspent state money and left students without computers or adequate books for nearly an entire school year."

Later that year, the district closed Summit Charter School in Maitland, which served students with learning disabilities, after years of financial troubles, including administrators spending school money on lavish meals, travel and a truck, and employees working without compensation.

Then, in 2012, the academically lagging NorthStar High School gave its principal a payout of more than $500,000 after its charter was not renewed. In addition, she was being paid about $305,000 a year in salary and bonuses. The four schools, combined, have received more than $287.2 million in state tax money.

After an Orlando Sentinel investigation about NorthStar, state legislators expressed outrage, followed by a stack of bills related to charter schools, many increasing fiscal controls.

"I hope that we're going to make these kind of stories a thing of the past," said Simmons.

At Einstein, teachers said their training was haphazard, paychecks were late from the start and payments meant to compensate them for a lack of health insurance stopped after a single check. Three teachers who left in December and January were never paid several thousand dollars they were owed, they told Orange County Public Schools officials.

Things were also falling apart in the classroom.

The principal quit to save on salaries, and two of the five teachers were forced out, former teachers said. Further defections left a revolving door of substitute instructors, according to former teachers and the Einstein Montessori board chair, Rebecca Simmons.

Victoria Miranda, 14, said she had substitutes in all classes but one.

Short-sighted scheme would essentially put an end to conservation programs

The Tampa Tribune editors: "A short-sighted measure in the Florida Legislature would essentially put an end to the state and local land conservation programs, making it impossible to preserve the natural treasures that are the foundation of the state's appeal. Credit Sen. Alan Hays of Umatilla and Rep. Charlie Stone of Ocala for this scheme." "Short-sighted land deal".

FLA Politics - publishing since 2002

Aside from summaries and links to Florida's "netroots" and professional "media blog" feeds, which appear in the two columns immediately below, we provide something unavailable anywhere else: in the column to the right, we present digests of, and links to hand picked news stories, opinion columns and editorials about Florida politics; this material is generally unavailable via feeds or mashups.